Walking With Hearts Under Sleeves
by Twi-Red-Ruxi
Summary: "In Gotham, Melanie met a boy." - Character study; currently a oneshot.


**A.N.:**** Another one of my fandoms getting some attention... Aaah, Batman always had a special place in my heart and Batman Beyond totally unexpectedly swept me off my feet _and dangled me by the foot over a balcony_. **

**I had really loved the story of Batman and Catwoman in B:TAS and was really looking forward to seeing something similar in Beyond. And while the brief love story with Melanie was sweet, it didn't feel up to par with the intense dynamic between Selina Kyle and Bruce. - Heck, until I read it on Wikipedia, it didn't even occur to me that THIS was indeed meant to be Terry's romantic encounter with a villain. I dunno, I just couldn't help it but find it a bit too _plain_. Their dynamic seems kinda boring, as well as the outcome. (Perhaps because Melanie was a reluctant villain? Selina clearly enjoyed stepping over the lines _just bec_ause she could, while Melanie is so very transparent and vulnerable and in obvious need of comfort - something which she has a lack of within the Royal Flush gang.) I think that my defining points in a Selina/Bruce kind of couple are different from the ones the show's writers have. :(  
**

**Their story is actually sweet, but has given us so little to work with that the fans' works - in an attempt to uncover the hidden intensity between these two- have a risk of becoming _awfully cheesy_. (I have a high fear of slipping into that as well...)  
**

**(The one character I actually tied this development to -albeit as a brief, more shallow one- was Inque. Because, hot damn, their fights are _intense_. And remember that forced 'shut-up' kiss while Terry was tied down? _Yowza_.) **

**Anyway, since it's canon, I've decided to try and _yes this is another character study again now I KNOW OKAY now shoot me._ **

**Disclaimer: _THIS IS PURELY FAN-MADE._  
**

**_(Edit: DAMMIT STOP DELETING MY SPACES! I'M SO DONE WITH THIS SITE BEING ALL SASSY WITH ME. I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING OKAY!)  
_**

* * *

(_She was a child of arrogant thieves and cold-blooded cowards_.)

They whispered all of her life the promise of gold in her ears; wealth in exchange for stomping all over the rules and turning them into dust under their boots. It didn't matter if the world burned to ashes as long as they would be buried in diamonds and fine silk in the end.

It was such an unwanted miracle to have her turn up the way she did. She herself didn't even know when she had actually started to be that way.

She was one of them, a Walker. She came in and strutted with a smile among the terrified victims and robbed them of their riches. She put on a show and did not disappoint. She reveled in the feeling of cashmere, silk and fine leather on her bare skin. That simple fact did not change.

(She was a fighter, a rebel, a Walker.)

But she didn't want what her family wanted. And despite all their claims, cockiness and illusions of grandeur, neither could they tell her what to want.

One time, -after another one of their successful nights, as she flew with the rest back to their base- (heart still pumping and with a small headache blooming between her eyes) the morning sun rose in time with a new thought that suddenly burned everything in sight.

(This whole effort of seamlessly committing a crime… it was _so not_ worth one's bottomless greed.)

She couldn't be friends with her own family (her father beat up her cousin because he dared to speak the truth.)

Melanie desperately needed something to call her own. Because she couldn't have anything for herself. Everything was split and shared between them and no secret was theirs to keep. -The openness was necessary for them to work seamlessly as a team; but she didn't realize until later that she didn't know where the Royal Flush ended and where she truly began- It was all a mask in the end. Everything, everything. Even her thoughts, all were part of the same common tree.

_Melanie, where was Melanie?_

(There was only Ten.)

It had started to feel at some point like she was just an extension of a body. A small part of a pack of cards, incomplete without the whole set and useless on her own.

Her father suddenly came into her room to tell her that they'll be moving to Gotham next. She nodded and went to pack her suitcase. (Her life was small enough to be fitted into one.)

The head of their family demanded them to go because he heard that Batman was back. The Knight that has defied and shamed the King. (_Long live the King__.._.)

In Gotham, Melanie met a boy.

(He was a dark figure among the blinding neon lights. And apparently he was not welcome there. Maybe that was his girlfriend. Maybe not. At least, not anymore.)

Melanie Walker hasn't come out of her shell for such a long time. And she wanted so very badly to just _talk_ to someone, just for the sake of it; she watched him until he reached the spot where she stood.

He seemed even darker up close. (He was Caucasian, but there was something about his form that made him look like a _shadow_ in her mind, a _dark_, ethereal_ stain_ upon the big canvas of her world.) She couldn't make out any other colors besides the ebony in his hair, his skin blending with the artificial lights.

There was probably much more that could be put into words about him, whole pages, because Melanie was a quick thinker who observed everything around her. (She had to be, because she was supposed to act like Ten always should. And Ten was so much more important than Melanie anyway). But Melanie put that all on pause this time, because it wasn't like Ten would need to know more about him.

(But in the end _she did_.)

They went for a walk and she couldn't help but notice his pale face, his thoughtful, preoccupied brow; the way his jacket curved around his shoulders, emphasizing their broadness. And his kind blue eyes. He seemed, rather than a shadow, like something born from pale thin rays of moonlight in dark deep forests.

His responses were short at first, but he eventually warmed up to her insistence and soon enough they both filled up each other's need to connect. They walked among the streetlights, side by side, and Melanie tried to feel less alone. She didn't think too much about what she was saying. He was no threat and teenagers tended to be dramatic when talking about their own problems, so no worries there. And the fact that he responded like he understood made sure she did not feel any kind of regret.

Melanie took care to play her cards right even while complaining about her life. She did it with class, playing the act of a tired, battered soul, with all the grace and silently suffering dignity of a lady. It was this type of subtle luring that was the most powerful. (And she was lonely in so many ways; she wanted all that she could get.). He didn't flirt back but didn't reject her either. He just listened, and just openly stared at her. And she couldn't help but want to come closer; he became like that irresistible beacon of light to a butterfly. Melanie wanted this boy. She wanted to smooth out his frown and drink in his secrets. He didn't crowd her vision, didn't demand her attention (She was so tired; she just wanted somewhere to rest for a moment...); he waited and listened, like a small unnoticed shadow _in the corner of her eye_. -She probably wouldn't have even noticed him if he hadn't interacted with that dark-haired girl, who which danced in the artificial pulse of light and electric sounds back there.

In a dark city of shadow and fear symbiosis, a lonely girl met a boy.

One time, -as she skipped across the pavement in the company of a broody being made of Gotham moonlight- (heart so heavy and the pinprick sting of mischief bouncing in her toes) the chilling midnight wind carried through the darkness a thought that suddenly struck bone deep.

And then Melanie knew that _even Ten_ _was sick of it all_. -The spice of the rich (_criminal_) life.

This blessed silence and space allowed her to vent and the quiet, _patient_ understanding her pale (_dark_) boy had given her, it was such a novelty. _It was something Ten wanted to have. It was something Melanie wanted to keep_. It was what pushed her off the edge and made her realize "What's in a name?"; that it didn't matter who was who anymore (_Melanie_ is _Ten_! _Ten_ is _Melanie_!), that she didn't care anymore.

It made her realize _nothing mattered__. _

(So she kissed him.)

_Nothing but his name._

(And his name was _Terry_.)

* * *

**Yes, Melanie, we know.  
**

**We are all aware that Terry is awesome. **

**That's all for now, folks! -blows kiss-**


End file.
